1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a means for attaching certain internal accessories of a vehicle to its body, with an intermediate panel or lining which makes up the roof and which acts as a self supporting element, which means consists of a metal clip suitably coupled to an opening provided for such purpose in the vehicle body, so that it may be removed, and a plastic shank of which is part of the accessory, which shank may be coupled to the clip forming a set which is securely attached to the vehicle body, with the intermediate lining or roof, and with the accessory which the shank is part of, on the inside of the vehicle.
2. Related Art
Spanish Invention Patent P 9700867 and its addition 9800689 describe a means for attaching accessories to a car""s body using a suitable coupling between a metal clip attached to an opening provided in the car body and a shank which bears the accessory and designed to be attached to the clip, with an intermediate panel or lining of the vehicle roof, so that as the accessory is attached the corresponding area of the roof lining is also attached.
Said attachment means described in the aforementioned Spanish Invention Patent and its addition is characterised in that the clip is constructed as a body with two lateral parts and a flexible flap in each part, and collaterally a side sectors which extend into lower and end segments which converge slightly upwards and outwards, so that the flaps, at the level of a bend made in each one, are provided with a notch by which the clip is attached to the opening provided in the vehicle body, as the notch is engaged in the corresponding side edges of the opening, while the lateral extensions provide the support surface for the inner face of the vehicle roof or lining, as said roof must be interposed between the lateral extensions of the clip and a base of the shank which is coupled and retained by the clip.
In this structure of the clip and shank described in Spanish Invention Patent 9700865 and addition 9800689 there are parts and elements which must perform such functions as allowing the coupling, fitting and locking between the clip and the shank, as well as allow their detachment from each other, so that the size of the flexible flaps and therefore of the longitudinal notch which they have for attachment of the clip on the opening of the car body, is limited because between the side edges of the flaps and the sectors on whose lower segments run the side extensions there is a great separation in order to allow to place walls provided in the shank.
In addition, on order to detach the shank and clip in order to remove the accessory the shank must have an inner tubular structure through which a special tool may be inserted and the top edges o the clip separated, freeing the shank. In other words, this detachment cannot be achieved with any tool, requiring a special tool.
The object of the invention is to provide a clip with structural characteristics which allow to remove it from the shank without the need of special tools. A further object of the invention is to provide a shank obtained by injection together with the accessory, so that it is sturdy and with guides of a suitable size next to the corners, allowing the length of support of the resulting flexible flaps of the clip to be maximum, thus also providing a contact and guidance area on the shorter sides of the car body opening, all of this providing a maximum stability in assembly and coupling of the set.
The metallo-plastic clip object of the invention solves the above described problem by means of improvements made in both the clip and shank which not only provide a larger notch in the flexible flaps for attaching the clip to the body opening and allow the use of any tool to detach the clip and shank, but also provide greater stability to the set and a sturdy and reliable attachment.
More specifically, one of the improvements consists in that the side sectors of the flexible flaps instead of being bent at their bottom are bent at an intermediate level, above the bend of the flexible flaps, so that the bend of these side sectors projects inward and then after a further 90 degree bend project outward, forming lateral vertical extensions which join at an angle with the end segments where the clip rests on the vehicle roof. This novel construction of the aforementioned parts gives rise firstly to horizontal supports at the level of the first bend of the side sectors, which supports are meant to be placed on corresponding surfaces provided for such purpose in the sides of the shank, and furthermore, allow the lower end segment of the flexible flaps to have a greater length and thereby a longer notch, which allows an improved attachment of the clip on the opening of the vehicle body.
A further improvement consists of the flexible flaps being provided with a cut without any material being lost, which determines on each flexible flap an inwardly projecting segment bent near its lower free end, from where it then diverges, so that the bends are left facing each other allowing the insertion between them of any expansion tool which separates the flexible flaps, as it naturally will act on the bends of these internal segments which are part of the aforementioned flaps, allowing detachment from the shank.
A further improvement, in this case made on the shank, consists in its structure comprising a bridge whose top part ends as a spindle, allowing insertion between the opposing ends provided for this purpose in the top part, so that between the sides of this tapering top part and the bridge are provided stirrups in which said top opposing edges insert, while on the side there are sockets with resting points for the horizontal surfaces which are supported on the vehicle body. Above these sockets are supports for the planes defined by the first bend of the side segments of the clip, as well as side recesses for placing the lateral and vertical projection of the side segments.
Additionally, said shank sockets are located as far as possible towards the ends of the opening of the vehicle body, and between its side supports and the supports for the clip side segments there are centering guides, also located as near as possible to the corners of said opening, in order to provide a great stability to the attachment means, as well as an anti-rotation effect with respect to the perpendicular axis of the opening.